Octopi Wall Street

My enthusiasm for octopuses is well-known by readers here. I’ve written fiction and non-fiction about them, and they are obliquely connected to my work in science/medical research. You kind readers also know of my distaste for the “occupy” movement. But I still smiled at this image:

No backbone? Some would argue that they are politician material already.

Octopuses have been used as symbols in editorial cartoons for centuries. During the past century or so, they have frequently represented the “evil corporate monopoly” of one kind or another, or during wartime have been used as unpleasant representations of the enemy. In the currently ongoing jihadist war, jihadist cartoons frequently depict America or Jews as octopuses. Somehow, their use for unions, a notoriously corrupt section of society, is hard to find.

But one other long-ago cartoon was brought to mind by something Obama said, and it features an octopus. During 2009, as I wrote here, Obama abandoned (or postponed) his campaign promise to raise taxes on the “rich” (it’s really on high income earners, but everyone gets this wrong). I wrote about “Obama’s Cat” in 2009 and the president-elect’s comments the following day.

Subsequently, President Obama has made it clear that it is foolish to raise taxes when the economy is not strong. The picture below whimsically illustrates one reason why he was right:

“The Fountain of Taxation” from the Library of Congress.

This editorial cartoon from a century ago points out that “the Burden of Taxation” pours down on those that can least afford it.

Now, of course, Obama wants to raise taxes — not because it would be good for the economy, but because it is (in his mind) “fair.”

He made this mistake before. During the Democratic nominee debate in Pennsylvania in 2008, Obama was reminded (by the left-wing moderators!) that cutting the capital gains tax actually increased the tax revenue substantially. Here’s a video of that part of the debate. He was unimpressed, and planned to look at raising them anyway “for purposes of fairness.”

There he goes again.

He then complained about people making too much money. He also seems not to understand (still!) what capital gains tax is, versus income tax.

To cap this off, he launched into a tirade about how irresponsible it is to borrow from China.